


Just Friends

by everlovingdeer



Series: Harry Potter Short Stories [5]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Jealousy, Miscommunication, but not really that angsty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-09-26 07:10:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20385733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/everlovingdeer/pseuds/everlovingdeer
Summary: “I was just wondering if you would like to go to Hogsmeade?” He asked so quietly that I didn’t quite hear him. “With me?”“Excuse me?”Peter swallowed and repeated himself louder. “Will you go to Hogsmeade with me?A smile spread across my face as I watched the older boy. I started to reply to him but Fred beat me to it, shouting across the great hall from his place at the Gryffindor table. His voice ended all chatter in the great hall. “Oi, Macmillan. Why the hell are you asking out my girlfriend?”





	1. Just Friends

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally posted to wattpad and ff.net on 23/11/2013 and is mostly untouched since then. Minor changes have been made - very minor changes

Everyone thought that Monday was the worst day of the week but truthfully it was Wednesday. On Wednesday you were exactly halfway through the school week so you were no further away from the beginning of the week or closer to the end of the week. So I think you could imagine how I felt on that Wednesday morning as I pushed open the door great hall. 

Pushing away the gloomy thoughts I focused on the fact that I had three scheduled free periods today and my mood suddenly brightened. With a newly happy mood, I made my over to the Hufflepuff, spotting Susan and the seat that she had saved for me. I made my way over to her.

“Good morning,” I said as Susan looked up at me with a wide smile. She was a morning person, I was not.

“Morning,” Susan said as I sat down beside her and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. “Did you sleep well?”

“Yes, but I’m awake now – so I guess I didn’t sleep all that well.” 

She rolled her eyes, already used to my mood swings. She knew that until I got some food into me I wouldn’t be worth her wasting her effort in trying to ease me into a conversation. Instead of replying to me, she passed me a plate of buttered toast. Gratefully snagging two pieces of toast off from the plate I put them onto my own plate. Reaching across the table for a jug of pumpkin juice I poured myself a glass.

I listened to Susan as she spoke, eating and giving her answers to the questions that she asked me. Reaching for another slice of toast I felt Susan nudge me in the side with her elbow. I glanced back at her, giving her an inquisitive look. She looked at me, glancing to the side quickly. Following her eyes, I set sight on the boy standing behind her. 

“Hi,” He said when he noticed me looking at him.

“Hi Peter,” I said smiling as Peter Macmillan, Ernie’s older brother, fidgeted nervously with his tie. “Did you want something?”

“I was just wondering if you would like to go to Hogsmeade?” He asked so quietly that I didn’t quite hear him. “With me?”

“Excuse me?”

Peter swallowed and repeated himself louder. “Will you go to Hogsmeade with me?

A smile spread across my face as I watched the older boy. I started to reply to him but Fred beat me to it, shouting across the great hall from his place at the Gryffindor table. His voice ended all chatter in the great hall. “Oi, Macmillan. Why the hell are you asking out my girlfriend?”

I smiled apologetically at Peter as he began to turn red from embarrassment. He didn’t look at me as he headed back to his space at the table. Turning to face Fred with a fearsome glare I narrowed my eyes at him when he met my eyes. He shrugged his shoulders innocently as if he wasn’t aware of the chaos that his statement has caused in the great hall. Giving me a quick wink, Fred turned back to the Gryffindor table, as they all crowded around him – no doubt trying to dig for dirt about our ‘relationship’.

I turned back to the Hufflepuff table, hiding a smile as well. That was so typical Fred. He had always chased away any and every boy apart from himself. But you had to love him; I mean he was my best friend. But there was one thing on my mind. Every other time that he had pushed a boy away from me, he had played the part of the protective card. Not this time though. This time he’d acted like a boyfriend, albeit a fake one. Why?

Returning to my senses I felt the eyes on me and raised my eyes when I saw all Hufflepuffs that were looking in my direction. I raised an eyebrow and they turned away when they realised that they weren’t going to get any information from me.

Except there was one pair of eyes that hadn’t left me. I met Susan’s eyes and rolled my eyes.

“You can’t seriously believe him, Su. This is Fred we’re talking about. He does this all the time.” She shrugged and returned to her breakfast but made no further comment.

* * *

Hufflepuffs shared charms with the Gryffindors and so Angie and I found ourselves walking down the corridor to said lesson. Or rather we should have been walking towards the lesson but the twins had stepped in our way to stop us. 

“What do you think you’re doing?” She asked with a sigh, looking between the two boys.

“Oh I just wanted to find some time to talk to my girlfriend, Angie,” Fred answered and I narrowed my eyes at him.

Fred was going to cling onto this joke for a long time. He’d play it out for as long as it was funny which, knowing Fred and his ability to save a dying joke could have been for months. So I needed to nip this in the bud. Fred always wanted me to laugh along to the jokes and the pranks that he’d pulled, but he’d never expected me to play along.

“Fred,” I said quietly, looking up at him from under my eyelashes. “We said that we would keep our relationship a secret. You said that I could decide when we were going to tell everyone but you rushed ahead and announced it to the entire school – I, I wasn’t ready for that Fred.”

Maybe I was a better actress than I thought? That was definitely the truth if Fred’s worried facial expression was anything to go by. Linking my arm through Angie’s I noticed that her upper lip kept quivering as she attempted to smother a laugh and I led her past the twins and we went on our way.

When we were safely out of their hearing zone, she let her laughter spill past her lips and I let out a few giggles. Stopping her laugh, she straightened up and looked at me appraisingly.

“What was that exactly?” She asked.

“Well,” I shrugged, smiling. “There’s a reason that I get on so well with the twins.”

* * *

I was making my way to my final lesson of the day; potions. Merlin, I wasn’t looking to having Snape last thing of the day. I wouldn’t put it past him to assign us with some ridiculous essay which would either be on the most obscure topic or be a ridiculous length. Or maybe even both. 

Turning into the right corridor of the school I was tugged into an empty corridor. It would have been part of my instinct to scream if I didn’t know who the person pulling me into the empty classroom was. Really, he needed to stop doing this or he needed to find somewhere else for him to meet me. An empty classroom always seemed like such a shady place to meet.

Turning to face Fred, I peered up into his face, knowing that he would speak first. He always had a reason for accosting me.

“Love,” he said softly, reaching out to touch my arm. “Are you mad at me?” I ignored him. “Love,” he repeated again, a bit of fear now added to his voice.

Was he actually scared that I was ignoring him? Surely, Fred should have known by now, after years of friendship, that it was so difficult for me to ignore him that it just made sense to not do it. It was just easier for me to talk through the problems that we had – Merlin, no wonder George joked that we were a couple.

“Fred if I was ignoring you, would I still be wearing this?” I asked as I rolled up the sleeve of my robes in order to show off my wrist. Or rather the friendships bracelet that was still in its place on my wrist.

He grinned at the sight of the bracelet before looking up at me. When he met my eyes, his smile melted into a frown. I raised my eyebrows inquisitively. “You didn’t – love, you didn’t actually like Macmillan did you?”

“As in, did I have feelings for him?” At his nod, I shook my head. “No, I didn’t Fred.”

“So I guess we’re still on for Hogsmeade then?”

“It’s a tradition isn’t it?”

When he smiled I risked a glance at the clock and blanched. Snape was going to skin me alive and something told me that he was going to enjoy every minute of it.

* * *

The trip to Hogsmeade was looming around the corner and was one of the few occasions that I was happy to be away from Hogwarts. There was no doubt in my mind that Hogwarts was, in fact, one of my favourite places to be but there was something freeing about being able to go down into Hogsmeade for the day. 

We, Fred and I, even had a tradition that revolved around the trips to Hogsmeade. On the first trip to Hogsmeade every term we would spend the entire day together. He would pull himself away from George and I would abandon my friends for the day to go around the town with Fred. It was fun and as George liked to sometimes call it – it was Fred and my date day.

The tradition had been so long-running that we always knew when the first trip would be happening and what we would be doing that day. It was one of the few days that Fred would be able to force himself out of bed early and we both had an early breakfast and took the earliest carriages down to Hogsmeade. The day would be filled with exploring the town and would end with us taking the last carriage back to Hogwarts.

But, yet, here I was – standing alone outside of the Three Broomsticks, waiting for Fred. I glanced around the road. He was nowhere in sight. The wind blew harshly and I buried my face into my scarf.

“What are you doing here?” Susan asked as she walked out of the Three Broomsticks. “Hasn’t Fred turned up yet?”

“No,” I said with a shake of my head. “But I’m sure he’ll be here soon.”

“Come on.” Susan linked her arm through mine and led me into the warmth of the Three Broomsticks. “It’s too cold for you to be waiting outside for him. When he arrives then he can come and find you. How long were you waiting outside for anyway?”

Sitting down at a table, I watched her sit down across from me. “Half an hour,” I said, ignoring the way her eyes narrowed at my answer. But she made no further comment and went away to order our drinks.

Spending the rest of the day with Susan, we made our way around the town with a quick stop into Honeydukes to round off the trip. It was fun, of course being around your friend was fun. But it was different than the way it was when I usually went around with Fred. Except Fred had not turned up the entire day.

Letting out a slight sigh at the thought, I clambered down from the carriage and headed into the castle, wanting to warm up as soon as possible. When we were changed into our uniform, Susan linked her arm through mine. Recounting the horror of her divinations class as we walked out of the dorms and into the common room I couldn’t help but laugh at the pure ridiculouslessness of her story.

“Well, that’s why you don’t take divination,” I said as we walked out of the portrait hole only to be stopped by a Fred shaped distraction.

I looked down at the boy that was on his knees in front of me as though he was begging. Looking around the corridor I let out a sigh when I noticed that everyone was watching us. What was it with the Weasleys and their love for theatrics? 

“Love,” he began and I cut him off.

“Fred,” I hissed under my breath so only he and Susan, who was still beside me, could hear me. “What the hell are you doing? You’re making a scene.”

“I’m apologising,” he said looking up at me from his position on the floor. I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I’m so completely sorry. I was with George and Lee and you know how I am when I’m around either of them. It completely slipped my mind-”

“That’s nice and all,” Susan cut in coldly, making Fred look over at her. “But do you realise how long she waited for you in the cold?”

“I know Bones, that’s why one of the reasons that I feel so bad right now.”

”Fred-”

“I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry-”

“Fred!” I snapped, making him shut up, “Don't worry about it, we have next term remember. Besides, it’s not as if I spent the entire day waiting for you, is it?”

He looked visibly relieved and I looked around to see that people were still in fact still looking at us.

“Fred?”

“Yes, love?”

“Get off the floor, you look like a weirdo.”

* * *

Except our plan to spend the first Hogsmeade trip of the next term didn’t exactly work out all that well either. At the end of my herbology lesson, I had been cornered by a rather haggard looking Professor Sprout who confessed to me that she was having a hard time tending to the Mandrakes on her own. She had practically begged me to help her and I couldn’t very well ignore the head of my house when she asked for my help. Now I just had to deliver the news of Fred.

The Fred, who was currently nattering on about the plans that he’d made for the trip tomorrow. He’d be so disappointed. 

We were walking through the corridor, in the direction of the Hufflepuff common room and when we reached the entrance, I held onto the sleeve of his robe. He looked down at the hand on his robe before looking up at me.

“What’s the matter, love?”

I chewed on my bottom lip. “It’s about the trip tomorrow-”

“What’s wrong?” He set a hand on my shoulder, “Do you need to do something first? If you do then I can meet you in-”

“It’s more like I need to do something for the entire trip,” I said cautiously.

“You’re not being serious.”

“I’m sorry Fred!” I risked a glance up into his face –he didn’t look pleased. “It’s just that Professor Sprout asked me to help her and I couldn’t just say no.”

“It’s alright love,” he said with a sigh, running a hand through his hair. Meeting my eyes, he gave me a small smile, bringing a hand down to pat the top of my head. “How about I bring you back a chocolate frog?”

“You’re the best Fred.”

“Tell me something I don’t know.”

I had thought that he had no problem with me not being able to make the trip, he’d said as much. But it seemed as though I had been wrong.

When the carriages had returned from Hogsmeade, I had been waiting by the door for him. As soon as Fred had caught sight of me he had made his way over to me, catching my hand and pulling me after him as he walked further into the castle. I tried to stop, to get him to talk but he remained mum until we were in a fairly abandoned part of the castle.

“Fred? What’s going on?”

“Why didn’t you come today?”

“I already told you the reason why.”

“No,” he demanded, “The real reason. I saw you in Hogsmeade, you were there one second and then gone the next. Do you know how long I spent looking for you?”

Oh. 

“Fred, my work with Professor Sprout finished earlier than I thought it would, so I managed to catch a carriage down to Hogsmeade. But when I got there I thought that you’d be busy with George or Lee and besides, I was too tired to go around Hogsmeade anyway so I came back to the castle-”

“And that’s the real reason?”

I looked at him as my eyes flooded with hurt at the obvious doubt in his voice. “Do you think that I would lie to you about something as stupid as this?” His words had forced me to become defensive. 

“No, I just-”

“Listen here, Fredrick Gideon Weasley; unlike you, I had an actual excuse for missing the trip. I told you beforehand that I couldn’t make the trip. You didn’t have to wait around for me in the cold, you knew where I was.”

“So that’s what today was?” He demanded, his voice rising. “Payback for last time.”

“No, of course, it wasn’t.” I sighed, feeling drained both from the physical work that I had done today and from this newest development. “Merlin, I’m so sick of this Fred! Why is it that for as long as we’ve been friends, I’ve always been the one to get the blame?”

He looked at me in shock, his voice suddenly so much quieter than it had been. “I don’t always blame you.”

I couldn’t even try to stop it. Everything that I’d kept bottled up inside of me began to pour out of me. 

“Yes you do, Fred! But what’s worse is that you always expect me to be there for you when you’re ready to come back or when whatever new thing you’ve found becomes boring. It’s as if you think that I like being your second option, your back up.”

“But you’re not any of those things-”

“No? Well, you’re certainly doing a wonderful job of making that known.” I said with a sarcastic bite. “I’m so sick of _always_ being second best whenever a better offer comes along. I’m sick of you always thinking that each and every single time I’m going to be waiting for you.” Tears began to flood my eyes as I stared up at him, “Just because I’m a Hufflepuff, does _not_ mean that I’m a pushover.”

I turned on my heel and walked away from him, ignoring him as he called my name to get me to stop.

* * *

The library was deserted; there was only half an hour left until curfew and every sane person was in their common room or in their dorm room. Apart from me, that was. I was still stuck in here with the librarian glaring at me as I tried to finish this ridiculous essay. Or that’s what I was telling myself anyway.

I was sat in the library as I attempted to finish the final paragraph of my Defence Against the Dark Arts essay. But my gaze would keep slipping to the bracelet on my wrist, my hand moving across the page with my quill. I had attempted to take the bracelet off after the argument that happened a few weeks ago but it felt weird. Seeing my empty wrist felt weird because I didn’t have my reminder of Fred. The reminder that I had worn since third year when he had first given it to me.

I could still remember the day in our third year when Fred and George had a huge argument that eventually led to them ignoring one another for months of end. Fred had given me the bracelet then, saying that as long as I wore it then he would know that I was there for him.

Because that was the reality of it. Even though we weren’t speaking right now, the moment that it seemed as though he needed me I would be there for him. I was pulled away from my thoughts when George slid into the chair across from me. 

“Before you start to shout at me,” He said quietly, “I’d just like you to remind you that we’re in the library that has a particularly nasty librarian who I’m sure wouldn’t hesitate to use a hex on a student. Besides, I don’t have a message from Fred.”

“What do you want George?” I asked with a sigh, setting my quill onto the table.

“Just to tell you something,” he assured me. “Look, have you ever noticed that over the years your bracelet has been changing colours? Good. It’s one of those – what are they called again? Never mind that.” I cracked a small smile as he ran a hand through his hair, trying to remember the name.

“George,” I prompted softly, “You were saying.”

“Right, well basically each colour on the bracelet is meant to indicate the way that the person who gave you the bracelet feels about you. So in your case, it shows you how Fred feels about you. “And because I know exactly how stubborn you are I took a book out of the library for you that explains the meaning of colours.” 

George rose to his feet and set a book and a photo album in front of me on the desk before he left the library. I glanced at the clock, knowing that I didn’t have enough time to look at the pictures before curfew started. Packing up all of my paper and ink into my bag I picked up the books and headed out of the library. 

Once I had changed into my pyjamas and brushed my teeth, I sat cross-legged on my bed with the curtains drawn around me. The photo album was open in front of me and I smiled as I caught sight of the pictures, each one was the same picture, in front of the Hogwarts Express, taken in a different year. They panned out my friendship with Fred.

I looked down at the bracelet on my wrist. It was fairly simple; three pieces of material that were braised together and each separate piece seemed to change shape. Had George been telling the truth?

I skimmed through the pictures from first and second year as Fred had not yet gifted me the bracelet. When I arrived at the picture from third year I looked at the bracelet. All three strings were a bright yellow signifying friendship and happiness.

Then came the picture from fourth-year where Fred had had his growth spurt and appeared to tower over me in the picture. The bracelet once again was viewable; one of the strands was yellow but the other two had changed. One strand was brown meaning stability and the other silver meaning security. 

But then came the fifth year where the meanings began to change. The brown strand had remained the same from the previous year but the other two had become pink. Reading up on the meaning of the colour pink I chewed down on my bottom lip; love and friendship.

The last picture was of our sixth year. There was only one pink strand remaining and the other two had turned red. Love and romance. Risking a glance down at the bracelet on my wrist I stared down at the colours.

Red. White. Red. The white meaning innocence. According to the book when the two colours were paired together it symbolised the purity and innocence of the gifter’s love. Closing both the book and the photo album I let out a sigh. Why had Fred never told me?

But I had lost my chance to ask Fred whether George’s words had been true or whether the book had been truthful in its assessment of the meanings of the colours. The twins had left Hogwarts with a final bang. He hadn’t even said goodbye.

* * *

It was the final trip to Hogsmeade and I was on the hunt for a particular shop. I had been owling George over the past few weeks to ask him questions about the bracelet and he had let slip that Fred had purchased the bracelet on a trip to Hogsmeade from a little shop that people always tended to walk past.

At the time I had wondered how on Earth there could have been a shop that I didn’t know existed when I had spent so much time in Hogsmeade. But, as I stood in front of said shop, I realised that it was highly possible to walk past this unassuming shop. If you had just walked passed it you would not have seen the shop. The only indication that it was its own shop was the sign in the window. 

Walking into the shop I was surprised to see that it was relatively busy inside. When I managed to locate the counter I gave a polite greeting to the older witch at the counter who smiled at me in response.

“I was wondering if you could help me find a bracelet?” I asked and I didn’t need to specify as the moment that I had finished my sentence she had assured me that she had what I was looking for.

She disappeared into the back cupboard only to return with a tray full of bracelets, similar to the one currently strapped onto my wrist. Looking through the variety of bracelets I picked the one that was the same as mine and handed it to the witch.

“And the name of the person that you’re giving it to?” She asked, saying that she needed to put a spell on the bracelet to make it specific so that the bracelet would work for him alone.

“Fred Weasley.” She nodded and cast a charm on the bracelet before placing the bracelet into a bag for me.

Paying the witch, I picked up the small bag and exited the shop with a smile. If I wasn’t able to talk to Fred about the way we both felt then maybe this bracelet would help me to get him to realise the way that I felt about him? 

Merlin knows that the bracelet he had given me had opened my eyes to his feelings. So maybe my bracelet for him would be able to do the same thing for him.

* * *

Glancing out of the train window I watched as we pulled up into the station, my hand instantly moving to my pocket to check that the bracelet was there. Once I was satisfied that it hadn’t fallen out of my pocket I stepped off of the train, only to be swept into a hug.

Fred.

“I missed you,” he muttered into my hair but then stiffened, having clearly remembered the bad terms that we were last on.

When I wrapped my arms around his middle and hugged him tighter all of the tension seemed to drain out of him. “I missed you too.” 

He pulled away from me, keeping his hands on my arm in order to keep me close to him. “How have you been?”

“Bored without you. I’ve got something for you.”

Reaching into my pocket I pulled out the bracelet. Fred peered down at it, recognition dawning on his face. He glanced up at me hesitantly.

“Is that a-” he trailed off.

“Yeah,” I said motioning for him to lift up his wrist. He hesitated as if he was scared until he summoned up some courage to offer me his wrist. As I tied the bracelet around his wrist I asked, “Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

“I was scared of how you’d react,” he muttered as he looked down at the bracelet, waiting for the colours to begin changing. “I was too scared that it would push you away from me if you found out the truth.”

His eyes remained fixed onto the bracelet, his shoulders tensing when the bracelet turned yellow and remained yellow. He relaxed as the colour began to flicker again. When the colours stopped changing, his head snapped up to lock his eyes onto mine.

Red. Silver. Red.

I looked away from him, smiling shyly when I caught sight of the wide grin on his face. Wrapping his arms around my waist, he picked me up and spun me around, making me laugh. Setting me back onto the ground he buried his head into my neck as I felt him grin. Pulling away from me, he gave a shout of joy that caused everyone on the platform to turn to look at us – including his family who was now sending us very knowing looks.

I flushed red when George wriggled his eyebrows suggestively at me and buried my face in Fred’s shirt. He chucked and I felt the vibrations, making me hit his chest. Fred was undeterred and instead, he wrapped his arm around me to hug me even closer to him. Smiling softly against him I wrapped my arms around him, only then recognising the true extent to which I had missed having him around.

“Fred?” The word was muffled against his shirt.

“Yes, love?”

“If you ever leave me again without telling me then I’m going to hex you until you can’t hold your wand anymore.” When he began to laugh again, I pulled back slightly to give him a mock glare. “I mean it.”

“But why would I run?” He questioned, leaning down to peck my nose, “Why would I leave when I’ve finally got the witch that I’ve been trying to chase after for years? I’m afraid you’re stuck with me now for life. Hell, we might as well already give you the surname Weasley. Mum would love it.”

“And you?”

“Oh,” he said pretending to look contemplative. “I’m sure that I’d find some way to deal with it.”


	2. Epilogue: 2 Years Later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You took it off.”
> 
> “I did.”
> 
> “That’s the equivalent of taking your wedding ring off,” he muttered in annoyance. 
> 
> “It’s really not.” 

_2 YEARS LATER:_

The wedding had been perfect.

Fleur and Bill’s wedding had provided our large extended family with that little bit of happiness we needed during such a dark and troubling time. Just watching them dancing together, their love for each other was obvious and brought a smile onto my face. It seemed that most of the singles were determined to follow their example and find love during the wedding. My boyfriend being one of them.

“You’ll bore holes into the back of his head that way,” Ginny said, appearing beside me as I watched my boyfriend flirt with a group of veelas, his twin brother at his side. She looked over at her brothers and let out a low whistle when she saw Fred. “Merlin he has no idea how stupid he’s being. He’s going to be in trouble.”

“Yes, he is,” I agreed, taking a sip of my drink before placing my glass on a nearby table. Looking contemplatively down at my wrist I glanced back over in Fred’s direction – there really was a reason that we were so good together. 

“I know that look,” Ginny said quietly. She looked down at my wrist before stating with a sly smile, “I still think that bracelet doesn’t go with your dress.”

“Do you know what?” I untied the bracelet, removing it from my wrist and dropping it into my clutch. “I was just thinking the same thing.”

“How long do you think it’ll take him to notice?”

“Oh, I’m sure he’ll notice eventually,” I said dismissively, casting my eyes back towards him only to see him looking at me. 

Fred gave me a grin when our eyes met. He gave me a wink and I couldn’t help but scoff. The cheek of it all – 

I turned away from him but not before I saw the frown on his face at my reaction. My eyes moved around the tent, narrowing in on the happy couple who had just finished their first dance and were now making their way through the crowd. I excused myself to make my way over to congratulate the pair of them, only to be stopped on my way as someone stepped in my way.

Looking up into the boy’s, or rather the man’s face, I couldn’t help but slowly smile. Merlin, it had been so long.

“Peter!” I exclaimed before pulling him into a hug. My reaction must have surprised him as he hugged me back slightly awkwardly before pulling away. “I haven’t seen you since we left Hogwarts – what have you been up to?”

“I’m working at the ministry,” he said with a smile. “In the Department of International Magical Cooperation.”

“Oh, I’m working at the ministry to too!” I tucked some hair behind my ear. “But I’m in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. I’d love to catch up with you.”

“Why don’t we?” He suggested. “We can go out for lunch or something?”

“That sounds perfect,” I agreed, taking the chance to catch up with someone who’d been such a good friend to me. “I’ll owl you later and we can sort out the details.”

“There’s just one problem with that Macmillan,” Fred cut in, appearing from nowhere and wrapping an arm around my shoulder. “I’m not going to let her go with you.”

I looked up at him, raising an eyebrow incredulously, “And I need your permission because?”

“Well forgive me for not being comfortable with my girlfriend going on a lunch date with a man who’s asked her out before,” he remarked, trying to stare me down.

“You’ve got nothing to worry about,” Peter cut in. “I don’t think my fiancée would be happy if I was going on a lunch date with anyone apart from her.”

“You’re engaged!” I shrugged Fred’s arm off and stepped forward to take a hold of Peter’s hand with both of mine. “Congratulations!”

“Thank you,” he said before excusing himself, no doubt wanting to escape the death glare Fred was sending his way.

Turning back to face Fred I gave him a look. “What is your problem?”

He narrowed his eyes at me, leaning down to take a hold of my arm. Lifting my hand to my eyesight he looked pointedly at my empty wrist.

“You took it off.”

“I did.”

“That’s the equivalent of taking your wedding ring off,” he muttered in annoyance. 

“It’s really not.” 

He let go of my arm and I let it fall back to my side. Taking a hold of my chin, Fred tilted it up towards him. 

“You took the bracelet off to flirt with Macmillan.” He frowned at me when I pulled away from him.

“Flirting? That was _not_ flirting.” He clearly didn’t believe me. “Flirting was what you were doing with the veelas over there.”

Fred smiled all of a sudden, looking down at me gently. I looked away from him – if I made eye contact with him when he was looking at me like that then I’d melt. “You were jealous.”

“Does it seem like I was jealous?”

“It does.” Fred reached out to pull me towards him. “But you don’t need to worry about them, love. Everyone pales in comparison to you – veela or not.”

“What a load of rubbish,” I muttered, letting him pull me the rest of the way and taking my usual place against him. I burrowed in his chest, feeling the steady beat of his heart against my ear.

“It’s true,” he responded, squeezing me tight. “Besides I was only there to help George – I don’t know if you’re aware that he sucks at talking to girls.”

“So do you,” I said into his chest before pulling back to look up at him. “That’s why I don’t need to get jealous.”

He let out a few chuckles. “I’ll believe that only for you.”

“You do realise that I’m still going to get lunch with Peter don’t you?” I pulled back slightly to play with one of the buttons on his shirt.

“I figured you would,” he said with a sigh. “But who am I to stop you?”

“You’re whipped,” I said, smiling affectionately. 

He ran a hand through my hair, messing up the curls I’d done specially for the wedding. I made a face. “I wouldn’t have it any other way, sweetheart.”


End file.
